January 2021 Monthly Member Bulletin
From the Executive Director
New Beginnings
As we look back on 2020 and the significant impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on every aspect of our lives, it’s difficult not to think of the many families that were adversely affected by the pandemic. Our hearts go out to friends, colleagues and all those affected by the pandemic in the last twelve months.
As we begin to look forward to the new year, it’s natural to have a renewed sense of hope for 2021. There is hope that the recently released vaccines put all of us in a position to return to some sense of normalcy – both at home and at work. There is hope that we’ve learned from the last twelve months and we’ll take the necessary steps to mitigate this type of risk moving forward. We should also pause to thank the many companies and individual contributors in our industry that played their part in lessening the impact of the pandemic (and there were many). Thank you!
After slightly more than seven weeks as the Executive Director of the Secure Technology Alliance and U.S. Payments Forum, I can reaffirm that my excitement is even greater than when I accepted the roles in December. The quality of the individuals across both organizations and the amazing work that they do on a daily basis are invigorating. The Alliance and the Forum are technically made up of 200+ member companies – but it’s the people that make both of these organizations work. There are many exciting innovations as we look ahead including: the continued transition to secure, touchless technology in the payments and transit industries, the rollout of mDLs in multiple states, developments in the IoT market and continued innovation in the cybersecurity market. I look forward to partnering with leaders across the industry to move these critical issues forward.
We’re actively finalizing member events for 2021 and look forward to seeing everyone in the very near future!
Regards,
Jason Bohrer
Secure Technology Alliance 2020 Center of Excellence
The Secure Technology Alliance announced the organizations receiving the 2020 Center of Excellence (COE) designation. This program recognizes an elite mix of member organizations who, each year, reach the highest level of active participation in the Alliance.
Members awarded the Center of Excellence designation for 2020 were: American Express; Exponent, Inc.; FIS; Fiserv; Giesecke+Devrient; GET Group North America; IDEMIA; Infineon Technologies; NXP® Semiconductors; Thales; Tyco Software House, part of Johnson Controls; Visa; XTec, Incorporated.
Thank you to all of our 2020 Center of Excellence members!
mDLConnection: Call for Member Contributions
The Secure Technology Alliance is inviting members to submit content for the mDLConnection information portal. The portal site was designed to provide a vendor-neutral industry resource for mDL implementation information in the U.S. Content that would be of interest includes:
- White papers, industry best practices, case studies, webinar recordings and other educational content in a variety of formats for the mDLConnection Knowledge Center
- Information regarding a state’s/province’s/jurisdiction’s mDL implementation status for the mDLConnection implementation tracker map
- Company and industry news from Alliance members
Additional information on how to submit content can be found on the mDLConnection web site.
Secure Technology Alliance mDL Initiative
The Secure Technology Alliance Board submitted a position paper in response to the Association of American Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) Request for Information on Mobile Driver License Digital Trust Services. The response outlines a digital trust service approach based on a public key hierarchy that would provide a robust, scalable and secure architecture that could be used globally.
Council Highlights
- Council projects. A summary of all active Council projects is posted on the Secure Technology Alliance members-only site.
- The Access Control Council is collaborating with the Identity Council to discuss and compile comments on the NIST draft FIPS 201-3, Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors. The Council is also working on a white paper on access control with mobile devices.
- The Identity Council is collaborating with the Access Control Council to discuss and compile comments on the NIST draft FIPS 201-3, Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors. The mDL project team is continuing to discuss new projects related to accelerating mDL implementation in the U.S.
- The Payments Council is completing a white paper discussing an electric vehicle charging payment framework and discussing plans for a webinar on dynamic security code cards.
- The Transportation Council is finalizing emerging MaaS ecosystem white paper.
If you would like to participate in a Secure Technology Alliance Council, please contact Devon Rohrer, drohrer@securetechalliance.org. The full list of active Council projects is available on the Alliance members-only site.
U.S. Payments Forum News
The U.S. Payments Forum is holding its third virtual member meeting, March 1-4 and March 9-11, 2021. All sessions are open to U.S. Payments Forum members, and the Forum is offering Secure Technology Alliance members one complimentary registration for the event sessions that are open to non-members. The full meeting agenda and registration are available on the Forum web site.
Sessions open to organizations who are not Forum members include:
- A panel discussing new technology impact on the future of payments
- A panel discussing CNP fraud and new fraud types
- A cross-industry panel on implications of 8-digit BINs
- A birds-of-a-feather discussion session on mobile driver’s license use cases for merchants and issuers
- A panel providing an update on EMV conversion in the petroleum industry
Secure Technology Alliance registration codes have been sent to all member organization primary points of contact. If you don’t know your primary point of contact, please let Cathy Medich know.
The Forum’s Testing and Certification Working Committee published a new white paper, Intake Form Terminology for EMV Level 3 POS Certification. The Working Committee evaluated intake forms from the payment networks, identified terms that may be unclear, and provided common definitions in this document. The white paper provides a resource that may aid in accurately and efficiently completing the intake forms for a valid certification with minimal rework.
The full list of active U.S. Payments Forum projects is available on the Alliance members-only site.
Welcome New Member
- Utimaco IS GmbH
Congratulations New Certificants
CSCIP/G
- Carlos Duarte, XTec, Inc.
- Jacquelyn Gutierrez, XTec, Inc.
- Jessica Ricardo, XTec, Inc.
- Antonio Simone, XTec, Inc.
CSEIP-Recertified
- Brent Arnold, XTec, Inc.
- Gabriel Ciurescu, M.C. Dean, Inc.
- Kristofer Fannon, BRCI
- David Harjo, Bureau of ATF
- John Murdock, Total Automation Group
- Richard Orr, Security Install Solutions, Inc.
- Jaime Santiago, Bureau of ATF
Current Training and Exam Dates
The following dates have been announced for CSEIP training. Class sizes have been reduced to six people per class due to COVID-19 health guidelines and safety concerns. As a result, classes are selling out faster than they have in the past, so we are advising organizations to make their reservations in advance of future security system contracts and installations.
- CSEIP Certification Course, February 9-11, 2021
- CSEIP Certification Course, March 9-11, 2021 (class is full)
- CSEIP Certification Course, April 27-29, 2021
- CSEIP Certification Course, May 18-20, 2021
- CSEIP Certification Course, June 22-24, 2021
- CSEIP Certification Course, July 20-22, 2021
Follow the Alliance on Social Media
The Secure Technology Alliance has an active presence on social media. Here are some ways for you to interact with the organization:
- Follow us on Twitter: @SecureTechOrg
- Connect with us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/secure-technology-alliance
- Share news, insights and resources by liking and retweeting or sharing our posts
- Share our pages with colleagues